Improvement in ballot-boxes



'Finnell-,gime @sind dttiyiir.

GILBERT DOLPHE FRBAULT, OF PARIS,4 FRANCE.

Letters Patent No. 106,682, dated August 23, 1870.

'IMPRQVEMENT 1N BALLoT-Boxes.

The Schedule referred to in thes Letters Patent an making pa: of the samer To all whom it may concern:

ing votes at elections, or for drawing tickets for lot-.

teries and other similar purposes, possess, without exception, the most serious inconveniences, and have never succeeded in inspiring the public with confident-e. 1 will not mention the various more 'plini- `tive methods used in certain count-ries for this purpose, where the irregularity and confusion consequent thereon produce the most injurious elects.

It is wit-h a view of solving this diiiicult problem, and of affording every possible guarantee of security to the public, that Ihave invented the ballot-voting apparatus described in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l isa vertical section.

Figure 2, a horizont-al section.

Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, illustrate in detail the different parts of the invention hereafter explained.

Figures 9,10, and 11 represent the methods fortying up or securing the box, which may be done in any convenient manner, according to circumstances.

Figures 12 and 13 are two specimens of a kind of knitting-kneedle used for receiving the voting papers during their classification, after the election.

Figure 14 is a longitudinal section through one 'of the tubes that I use for inclosing the \'otingpapers and transferring them into the box.

Figure 15 shows the rod or plunger serving to p ropcl the voting paper into the box from the tube in which il; is inclosed when the votes are lbeing counted.

The box, which is rectangular, has ou its four sides thick'sheets of glass, c u, which may, if desirable, be

4covered by wire-ganze, x, (see Figure 16,) the said sheet of glass being supported in grooves formed in the metallic frame b, which constitutes the body of the box.

The bottom is Iormed of a thin rectangular plate,

c, fixed by solder, rivets, or screws to the four pillars,- d,`ot` the Iraxne b.

At the time of voting the cover is closed by a metal plate, f, iig. 5, having a central hole, g, therein, and tour smul; holes, h, at the corners, through which pass the pillars of the frame b, and is covered, on its four sides, by a metallic frame, t', fig. 3, to which any breadth of border may be given, the interior being either rectangular, oval, or other shape, and the vsaid Aframe being ixed uponthe pillars of the-'frame b by means of four knobs, j, seen in detail in liigs. Gand 7.v

After the election, in order'to completely close the central hole g, and,'therefore-thc entrance to thebox, the metal plate f, iig. 5, is covered: by another metal plate, k, without a central hole, iig. 4, which is itself' sustained by the 4frame t', fixed, as above stated, by tbeknobs j. l

These knobs j, shown 1indetail fig. 6, and in section iig. 7, are furnished with a small handle, l, through which passesl the band or ribbon used. as hereafter described, for finally securing the box. This handle may be of the form indicated in dotted lines, or in any other convenient form. The ribbon surrounds the box on its outside, and after the election the operator will take care to twist the ribbon twice around the box, by covering, to a certain extent. the first turn by the' second. He will then place the seals upon the doubleribbon, at the point of its junction (see g. 8) in cross-section.

an is the wax, and n n the two ends of the 4band. This band or ribbon is, preferably, composed cfa woven fabric, having a large mesh, so that tliewax xn ty penetrate it, and form a perfect seal, and may be colored to'represent thc colorsof the national Hag.

When it is required that the box should be sealed during a single days election, the kind of sealing shown in iig. 9, yin plan, is used. The metaly safetyplate k, fig. 4, is not put on the cover, and the ribbon n, ot' the same colors as the ilags'of thel nation,

is twisted twice upon. each side, in the form of a cross,

and knotted at .the point o. Gare must be taken to place the band a little'outof the center, so as to leave y over each face of the box twice, crossing in the center and overlapping, as explained above with reference to iig. 8. Y Y

1n this case, as before described, the seals would not be applied-till after the election but if itis de` sired that the box should be sealed, even during thc election, it would have the safety-plate applied thereto after the iirstday,a|ul the method of securingftheapparatus shown in tig. l1 would be resorted to. First, two turns ,are made with the ribbon at 11, at about one-third'the length of the-box, and the two ends are then cut, forming an overlap, as above stated.` The bands are also 'atiixed to't-he sides, so as to make the safety-plate k thoroughly secure.` Then asecond bandage, q, is formed, in the shape of a cross, at the second third of the. length of thebox, andLis secured to the first upon the side of the box, the overlap being arranged as in the former case, andl sealed.

The `method of placing the seals, and the dilferein-l circumstances under which they should be so placed, vary according to custom, or the laws or regulations of the various localities, and it is for this reason that I do not mention any particular manner of voting orf and throwinf.;r the said tube into the box, lthe vote is perfectly secret and inviolable, the bandages of the box being themselves perfectly secure after the seals have been deposited upon the ribbons. v

The counting and registration ofthe votes are easily effected by pushing the voting papers out of the tubes, by means of the rod s, fig. 15. These votinp: papers thus expelled 'from the tubes are classified one after the other, uponl the respective needlest t', Iig.' 12 or 13. v These needles may carry at their points a small eyelet-hole, u, in which a piece of string may he passed to receive the voting papers when drawn from the needles, this string fv serving to collect the votes iu/ bundles and carefully preserve them.

The tubes fr, above mentioned, may be formed of any suitable materia-1,' or they'may be replaced by any other article capable of inclosing and keeping a vote secret. I y

An electoral box,vconsisting of the metallic frame, with glass sides and topf, with the perfbration g and. a vcover, k, so as to be applied to the top and secured in the manner described, and combined with the tube i and plunger s, substantallyin the manner described.

In testimony whereof l have signed myrname to this specification beibre tivo vsubscribing witnesses.

l G. A. FRBAULT.

Wit-nessesz' Y -F..OL01T,

JULES ,ARMENGAUD 

